Challenges faced by homosexuals & bisexuals

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The military's "Don't ask; don't tell"
policy. All viewpoints explained

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Overview:

The U.S. Armed Forces have, to their credit, often led the rest of the country in the field of human rights. They eliminated the racial bar against African-Americans at a time when many organizations in the rest of the country heavily discriminated against blacks. They accepted women as equals to men, in all but certain hazardous classifications, at a time when women were heavily discriminated against -- particularly within some conservative religious institutions, but also in commerce, education and industry.

Currently, about 75% of American adults favor an end to discrimination against gays, lesbians, and bisexuals in employment. However, the military does not allow a sexually active, openly gay, service member to remain in the services.

When a service member is outed as lesbian, gay or bisexual, if they don't fight the expulsion, they may receive an honorable discharge. If they fight it, they may receive either a dishonorable discharge of a "general under honorable conditions" discharge. Both would result in a total loss of all benefits. Trying to obtain future employment when in civilian life would be much more difficult.

The U.S. is one of the few NATO members to exclude homosexuals and bisexuals from their armed forces. The other countries have successfully ended discrimination with few problems. However, the American situation is different because of the country's high percentage of fundamentalist and other evangelical Christians who traditionally oppose equal opportunities for sexual minorities.

There are a few impediments to allowing gays and lesbians to openly serve:

The military is proceeding relatively slowly over this form of integration.

Looming on the horizon is the matter of transsexuals who wish to serve in the military.

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